Box.



WITNESSES:

PATENTED APR, 7, 1908. Q

W. STEWART.

BOX.

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 21, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

v or flatly folded shape for shipbpin or storage,

UNITED STATES WALTER STEWART, OF ELMIRA, NEW YORK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

QPatented April 7, 1908.

Application filed December 2i, 1905.' Serial No. 292,800.

To all whom itfmay'concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER STEWART, a citizen of the United States,residin at El mira, in the county of Chemung and t'a-te of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Boxes, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to im rovements in boxes formed from paper or,ike material, cut from a single blank, and so sha ed-and creased thatthe boxmay be packe inflat the component parts of the an bein providedwith means for fastening the si' es of the box securely in place whenthe box is erected. i

One object of my improvement is vto provide a simple and. quicklyadjusted device for locking the parts of the box together, when inerected position, and to so form the blank that it may' be folded flatinsmall compass for shipment or storage.

A further object is to so shape the parts of the blank as to require aminimum amount of material for any given size of box and to avoidwastage in cutting out'the blank.-

I attain my objects by forming the blank for the box and uniting theparts thereof in erected position, in the manner illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which' Figure 1 represents a blank for the boxI with allthe component parts laid out flat;

Fig. 2, a perspective v1ew showing the blank with the, parts thereoffolded together fiatwisein smallest com ass; Fig. 3, a perspective viewshowing t e box partly erected; Fig. 4, a vertical section through amodified form of the box with the parts in course of erection; and Fig.5, a pers ective view showing this modified form 0 box partly erected.

Like letters of reference designate like arts in the several views.

The blank for my improved box will be cut from cardboard, press-board orother suitable material of more or less thickness, according to therequirements of any particular box, and will be formed in the shapeillustrated in Fig. l, in which A re resents the bottom of the box, B Bthe si es, and O Cthe ends, said sides and ends being hinged to thebottom A by suitable creases, as at a. Each of the sides B is providedat o ipositeends with folding portions DD and- E ,said end folds beinghinged to the .sides b creases at b. These end folds on opposite si esof the referred form, to lap ox r adapted, n my er whenthebox is over ormeet one anot erected. 7

The box ends 0 are separated from the end fold by the cuts cand areprovided on their outer ends with flaps H hinged to the'top of the'endsby cieases along the lines h. "To facilitate the erection of the box andthe locking of, these flaps'to the end folds, I also provide anadditional crease along the lines also that these flaps will ssuine theposition shown, moreclearly in Fig. 4, when erecting the born The endfolds are provided with V-sha ed notches at G to form the tongues F,which will stand vertically when the box is erected. The notches are socut that the side edges of the tongues formed thereby will be verticalwhen the end 'folds' are brought into erect position. The tongues areinserted in the horizontal slots 1- rovided therefor in the end flaps tolock sai fia s in place. WVhen so inserted, they will ave their then resectively outer edges engaged by the ends 0 the slots, thereby preventingthe end folds from spreading apart and holdin the sides in erectposition.

' o facilitate the insertion of the tongues in the slots, make the edgesof the slots next the'crea'se h convex, which causes said edges toproject, when'the tongues are pressed against the flaps below the slotsin inserting them, thereby o ening the slots wide and directing or guiing the tongues into the slots, rendering the locking together of theparts much more rapid and certain than if the edges of the slots werestraight.

For the purpose of shipment or storage, the box blank, as so formed, maybe laid out flat as shown in Fig. 1; or it-may have the sides B withextended end folds laid over upon the bottom and ends C. The box,however, is adapted to be folded in still smaller compass, as shown inFig. 2, by laying the end folds l) and E over upon their respectivesides B and then turning the sides an end folds down upon the bottom A,after which the ends C .will be folded over upon the sides with theflaps ll turned inward. This will be my preferred manner of folding thebox. v

To erect the box, especially when folded towar s one another, across theends of the box, as shown at the front portion of Fig. 3. The ends 0will then bebrought u one at a time and locked in position, the aps byreason of the creases, being bent at an angle towards the ends, wherebythe outer edges- H; and the then outside edges of the tongues .will beengaged by the ends of the slots I,

thereby securely locking the end folds to the flaps and maintaining thesides and ends of the box in their erected positions. The incline of thenotches G at each side of the tongues F assist materially in erectingthe box since they permit the flaps H to be easily inserted back of thetongues and in front of the side portions of the end folds when said endfolds are in the position shown in the left hand or unlocked end of thebox in Fi I 3. This blank is particularly ada ted for eep boxes of the'kllld used by mi ers for hats and the like. adapted for either high orlow boxes and for many purposes i I prefer to so form the end folds Dand E as to cause them to meet or overlap when the box is erected,thereby bringing the tongues thereon into juxta osition so that they mabe inserted togeth slot in t e end fia s. The box may, however, be somade t at the end folds will not overlap, or meet, in which case it willbe readily understood that the flaps H may thenbe provided each with twoslots to receive the se arated tongues on the opposite folds. Tlib box,however, is much stiffer and the parts are more quickly assembled wherethe end foldsare made to overlap, as will be seen from an inspection. ofFig. 3 of the drawings.

The tongues F are preferably cut shorter than the height of the box inorder to facilitate theirinsertion in the slots in the lie. s.

In the case of hat boxes it is desirab e to have a tape or cord at eachend by which the cover may be tied down upon the box. In supplying myimproved-box with such cords, I so arrange the parts that the cords willassist in erecting the box, this modified form of the box being shown inFigs. 4 and 5 of the drawin s. For this modification I use the same blank as shown in Fig. 1, but crease the end folds diagonally on the linesf from the bottom of the tongues F to the corners of the box, and Ifasten the end folds D and E together where theyoverlap, either by meansof the cord J, as at K, or by staples, or by pastin or other suitablemeans. N'th the end fo ds so fastened together and creased,

It is, however, also well.

er through one the ,box becomes a collapsible box, and the end folds,when the box is folded flat, will fold inward and rest upon the bottomwith the sides B folded over upon them and-the same manner as describedin connection with the box shown in Fig. 3, the cords J being ulled outto their full extent through the oles in the ends 0; The box is thenready to receive its contents and the cover. The cover for this box maybe made in any desirable way, either deep or shallow, and preferably ina knock-down form; by formmg the tongues on'theend folds, I accomplish asaving in stock over those forms of oxes in which the locking tonguesare formed on the end flaps, and, moreover, this form of interlockingarts requires only a short flap. The bla may, therefore, be cut from asheet of the desired material with little waste e.

Having t us described my improved box and blank, and without confinmg mself strictly to,the form and configuration o the parts as erein shownand described, what I claim as my'invention and desire to secure byLetters-Patent is:

1. A box formed from a blank com rising a bottom with sides and endshinged t ereto, end folds onthe sides adaptedto project across the endsof the box when the box is erected, said end folds having notches cut atthe top to form vertically disposed tongues on their outer ends, theside edges of said tongues being produced by vertical cuts, and flaps onthe ends of the box adapted to fold over upon the end folds, each ofsaid fia s being provided with, a central horizonta slot and atransverse crease between the slot and the hinge of the flap, wherebythe flaps may be entered into the notches and the tongues inserted inthe slots while the end folds are being brought into positionacross theends of the box.

2. A box com rising a bottom with sides and ends hinge thereto, endfolds on the sides overlapping one another from opposite sides andpermanently fastened together where they overlap, tongues formed at theto of the folds where they overlap, the in ds being diagonally creasedfrom the bot tom corners of the box upward, whereby the sides -may befolded down u on the bottom with the end folds interfolde therebetween,

and flaps on the ends of the box adapted to fold overn on the end foldswhen erected, said flaps eing provided with horizontal amps? 8* attachedto the end folds where overlapped and fastened together, said cordspassing out 15 through holes provided therefor in. the box ends, andmeans for fastening the and folds and box ends together ,when the box iserected,

In testimony whereof I have alfixed my 20 sigmltum, in [)RHllfl of twowitnesses.

WAUlER STEWART.

Witnesses:

dAMEH H. ()"Blallm, loco V. S'IOELTZLEN.

